Rooty Hill residents surprised about PM's planned visit

ELEANOR HALL: Well as we heard, with her Government jolted by the latest opinion polls, the Prime Minister has announced that she will spend a week running the country from Sydney's western suburbs.

The locals in the western suburb of Rooty Hill are planning to put long list of concerns to Julia Gillard, as Will Ockenden reports.

WILL OCKENDEN: Some residents in Labor held electorates in western Sydney aren't exactly laying out the welcome mat for the Prime Minister's week long stay.

MICHAEL: Go Tony Abbott! Tony Abbott's the best mate.

WILL OCKENDEN: Many Rooty Hill residents were surprised the Prime Minister was giving up Kirribilli House to spend time with them.

MICHAEL: Is Julia Gillard coming here?

WILL OCKENDEN: Yeah.

MICHAEL: Oh, bullshit.

WILL OCKENDEN: Next week.

MICHAEL: Yeah?

WILL OCKENDEN: It's shaping as a very tough sell for Julia Gillard.

EVAN: I'll certainly listen to what she has to say, I've got an open mind. Look, I'm sure she's trying her best, but I just don't like what I see in the way we're being governed.

WILL OCKENDEN: Evan says he's a long term Labor voter, but has already settled on voting Liberal.

Among other things, he's upset about long running economic deregulation policies, and the removal of manufacturing protection.

EVAN: Mate, I'm blasé about both parties. I don't have a lot of confidence in either one. I guess the vote I go for is the one I suppose which is going to favour me the most.

WILL OCKENDEN: And looking at both parties now and both leaders, which way do you sort of see yourself falling so far?

EVAN: Liberal. I'd love to say Labor, it's been in our family all the years and it has been a lot of years for me, but I just don't like what I'm seeing every day on trains, on buses, just in regards to immigration policy of Australia, it's papier-mâché. It really is. It's weak and it's allowing people from all sorts of walks of life from other countries and a lot of refuse from other countries into this country. I don't like it.

(Sound of door bell in a shop)

WILL OCKENDEN: Business owners say they too are struggling. Raouf Saman runs the automotive spare parts shop on the local shopping strip.

WILL OCKENDEN: He says he'd like to see the Prime Minister run the shop for the week.

RAOUF SAMAN: I give her the keys of the shop, one day. If she get a profit or whatever it is to cover the expenses of one day, I'm very happy.WILL OCKENDEN: Convincing this electorate, even so far away from an election, is not going to be easy. Many residents seemed to have stopped listening. They say the Federal Government is doing a bad job and it's time for a change.

Specifically where, they are not so sure, but the removal of Kevin Rudd, and the word "tax" kept coming up.

Violet is 18 years old, and will vote in her first federal election in September.

VIOLET: I don't really like her that much and I haven't really in the past anyway. So I'd probably just be voting against her.

WILL OCKENDEN: A simple visit - even if it's only for a week - isn't going to change her mind.

VIOLET: She isn't really a good prime minister. So far she hasn't promised much good things for the community and not just this community, but other communities.

WILL OCKENDEN: Even supporters of Julia Gillard, like Margaret, aren't convinced the PM's visit will change hearts and minds.

MARGARET: I like to meet her, yeah.

WILL OCKENDEN: Do you think that it's going to change people's votes?

MARGARET: Oh I don't know about that. I don't know. I don't know. But I find it good anyway. Everybody different, because I vote for her. She's doing good to me, I don't know for somebody else.